The Democratic Party and Barack Obama should be pounding the voters with constant reminders as to what 8 years of a Republican Congress and a Republican administration have left the United States with: the largest deficit in U.S. history, a war based on lies and fabrication, torture as the norm, the U.S.image in shreds abroad, and complete denial about global warming and it's potential effects on food and energy, education in horrible straights and the list could and does go on.R.Waters

THE HILLARY POWERHOUSE There is an undeniable force that shouldn’t be discounted and should be appreciated. Hillary Clinton knows her game, and her experience is paying off.http://pacificgatepost.blogspot.com/2008/08/obamas-negotiating-weak-or-inept.html

If only we could split the Republicans....Say what you will about waffling and changing positions. However, let us not forget that the conservative John McCain we are seeing today is in no way the McCain of McCain Feingold who has stood up for his principles and encouraged unity and moderation in the U.S. Senate. Let us not crucify Obama for a sin being committed by both candidates. Let us not forget the putrid stink of McCain's gas tax holiday. Let us not forget that his foreign policy team includes the odious Randy Scheunemann, a man that should be arrested and brought to trial for his crimes against my nation. That is foreign policy expertise, recruiting a man whose ideology fostered lies and treachery that brought only loss and death to America?! Excuse me if I beg to differ.http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/07/mccain_advisors_horrifying_ira.phpAs for experience, let us not forget the greatest test that this country has ever faced, the American Civil War. Our president at that time, Abraham Lincoln, was a principled Senator from Illinois who had once lost his seat after voting against a hawkish and unnecessary Mexican American War (ring any bells anyone?). The man was a brilliant speaker, which he showed even despite a loss to his Democratic rival Stephen A. Douglas in debate. Lincoln's "lack of experience" pulled this country through the Civil War as he maintained the hope of a people, surrounded himself with brilliant advisors, and consistantly monitored the shifts in public opinion of his people. Is that waffling? Lincoln would not consider ending slavery, something Americans consider one of his greatest triumphs, until he knew that the people had moved their minds toward it... is there no merit in a man who listens to the people and moves with them? Is there no merit in a man who gives them hope in dark times, who excites them?Lincoln won the election of 1860 because his rival Democrats split into factions of moderates and extremists. Perhaps McCain's move to the right will disillusion Republican moderates. In a town hall in California one man expressed to McCain that he was simply not excited to vote for him despite his status as a hardcore Republican. Let Obama capitalize on that. Let us not forget that Barak Obama has brought people hope, not exhausted them with the rhetoric of a failed ideology. Let us remember that he has surrounded himself with individuals with fresh ideas like Samantha Power. Let us not forget that there are moments upon moments for McCain to show that he is neither what the Republican establishment wants, nor can he satisfy the needs of moderates. Let us not forget that the election is far away and there are moments upon moments for the Democrats to break their cycle of idiocy. Dear Sir, give it time.

The best thing that can happen for our country in any election is for neither party to control both the legislative and executive branches. Anytime both have been controlled by one party we have swung too far to one side. I hope Americans are wise enough to realize this when they vote.

Mr Obama declares that he can change the weather, not just in Chicago, but over the entire planet. He shouts that he can reduce the levels of the oceans. He displays a fake presidential seal. His followers create a "salute" that in my youth signified an opening in the body.All of this is pure Monty Python.Remind me - how exactly is this popinjay qualified to be President of the United States?

"Were [Obama] to become president, [his policies] would move further to the centre again."

I sure HOPE so, but don't BELIEVE they will.

Coupled with the cumulative power of (probably) both Houses in Democratic hands, I am gravely concerned that a President Obama will stick to much of his leftist agenda.

On the contrary, a (less likely) President McCain would find his powers significantly curtailed by Congress. This would only "take the edge off" his (newly found) social conservative aspirations. The core of his policies might survive.

Beware the concentration of power! Pres. Jefferson, Madison, and others had some choice words on the subject. The MAIN reason we went badly astray during GW's tenure was the (initial) concentration of power, both executive and legislative, in Republican hands.

In 1988 Dukakis lost the election where he was way ahead before labor day.I hope Obama does not fall into the same groove. McCain has a clear strategy while Obama does not seem to have one. I hope that in November the Democrats would not have to think that perhaps Hillary should have been the candidate to win election.

Looking from the outside, Mr. Obama there is a lot to like about him. Nevertheless, there is a lot to ponder too. In 1999 Mexico's PRI was looking forward to win yet another election, until Vicente Fox happened. He was fresh, energetic, a "straight talker".

His antistablishment aura propelled him to a convincing victory, although at the beginning of the race he lagged the PRI's candidate by more than 25%. People believed him when he said that with him, everything was going to change.

But, once in office, his inexperience showed. He never decided whether to prosecute past PRI abuses, or to court them to push his political agenda. He failed to find a political common ground with other parties.

Worse, he allowed himself to be dragged in a pre-elections drama with a future presidential candidate frome the left since the very beginning of the administration! At some point he considered supporting whis wife for a presidential bid (before Kirshner in Argentina).

By the end of his presidence, his freshnesh became stale. People realized that the reason he was an outsider was that he was a political lightweight and an amateur. His "straight-talk" started to be perceived as superficial, and his "down-to-earthness" appeared frivolous.

Take what you want from this. Mr. Fox is not Mr. Obama, and indeed, there is mucho to like about him. Just be aware that lack of experience is not a virtue. In Mexico, the candidate that was to change everyting, ended changing virtually nothing, and it cost 6 years of ineffectiveness and stagnation to the country.

Finally, an article that sums up many of Senator Obama's shortcomings. While he may run on a platform of change - whatever that entails - he has little record to provide voters a glimpse into where he stands on important issues. His time as a Chicago legislator, will come under heavy scrutiny because Obama's U.S. Senate tenure has been brief.

More importantly, it is amazing that someone with so little experience or results could become the President of the United States. Try again in 2016 when you can come up with a legitimate example to illustrate your bipartisan abilities.

McCain is a dull man. If the US were to use a parliamentary system like they do in the UK most of these candidates just wouldn't make it.Parliamentary candidates in the UK have to rise up in the ranks, they have to prove themselves. Anyone who followed British politics was never fooled with Tony Blair's coy smile, the man was a vicious and calculating politician.

As the article correctly points out, "character and leadership matter greatly," in the office of President of the U.S.As regards these two critical traits, Mr. Obama has demonstrated neither, but rather offers an amorphous career of constantly shifting positions to suit expedience over any evidence of principle and of invariably choosing the easy wrong over the difficult right. While neither candidate is ideal, it is easy to choose among one who has never shown character and one (i.e., McCain) who has frequently shown that he is willing to stand up to adversity for what he considers to be important.The world remains a dangerous place (as the recent Russian adventure in Georgia reminds us). The office of president is no place for on-the-job training. While Obama may someday be qualified, he is nowhere near ready for this job at this time.

Sir,I would assert that his voting records in Illinois and the US Senate be subjected to further scrutiny. His rampant use of "present" votes, without voting "yay" or "nay" on sensitive issues, just shows that the man doesn't have much of a spine.Compare that to a war-hero who had the spine to stand up to his own party, and indeed have his body parts broken to honour the first-in, first-out code of conduct as a Vietnam POW.McCain has been in the public eye for more than 25 years and has fought many a hard battle, winning some and losing some others quite spectacularly.While Obama's philosophical and ideological stances are worth making a Hollywood movie about, one can easily notice the difference between his rehearsed and written speeches and the "um, ah, uh" laced answers to questions. McCain is no orator either, but if consistency were a virtue, he is consistently average on that front.In Obama's case, to win, all he can bank on is his prepared speeches and repetitive use of the words "hope" and "change".If some voters sober up from this cult of personality mass hysteria, and analyze his record, November is not going to be fun for him.

If we had real elections in the USA, Ron Paul and Ralph Nader would probably be elected as President and VP.Barack Obama and Al Gore might serve Americans on the Paul-Nader administration or continue serving the public as Senators.http://groups.yahoo.com/group/GlobalRelations/message/444http://youtube.com/profile_play_list?user=CinetopiaNethttp://youtube.com/CinetopiaNet